State pesticide regulators ready to OK controversial fumigant

The state moved closer to permitting a controversial pesticide designed to replace the ozone-depleting methyl bromide Friday.

Methyl bromide has long been used to fumigate berry fields to clear soil-borne diseases and pests before planting, but it's being phased out under international treaty.

The state Department of Pesticide Regulation is proposing to allow the use of methyl iodide instead.

The fumigant, marketed by Tokyo-based Arysta LifeScience Corp. under the name Midas, does not deplete ozone but is considered too toxic for safe use by many scientists. State regulators say the proposal contains tough restrictions that will safeguard health.

State pesticide regulators will accept comments on the proposal until June 14.

"After extensive review, we have determined methyl iodide can be used safely with the extra health-protective use restrictions we are proposing that are so much stricter than those imposed anywhere else in the U.S.," said Mary-Ann Warmerdam, the state's top pesticide regulator, in a press release.

Critics disagree. Studies have implicated methyl iodide in fetal deformity, miscarriage and thyroid disease in animals, and it's listed as a carcinogen under state's Proposition 65.

Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Santa Cruz, held hearings on the pesticide last summer. He expressed disappointment that state regulators want to move forward after an external peer review board outlined problems.

"The external review panel indicated there are high risks to human health and the environment to the use of this pesticide," Monning said in a press release. "It appears that commercial enterprise has outweighed public health interests in this case."

The limits placed on methyl iodide include a minimum half-mile buffer zone around schools, hospitals and nursing homes; smaller application rates and acreage treatments than allowed under federal rules, as well as a requirement for training for handlers.

Paul Towers, director of Pesticide Watch, said considering the dangers posed by the pesticide the restrictions proposed by Warmerdam's department are "modest at best."

"We'll be looking to the feds to listen to sound science and make this pesticide illegal across the entire country," said Towers said.

Mike Allan, global business development manager for pesticide manufacturer Arysta LifeScience, said the restrictions were "in keeping with (the Department of Pesticide Regulation) assessment and evaluation of California growing conditions" and that the company will continue working with regulators with the goal of having the product available to state growers by the end of the year.

Spokeswoman Carolyn O'Donnell said the California Strawberry Commission has spent millions to come up with an alternative to methyl bromide and other fumigants with limited success. She couldn't say whether methyl iodide is the answer until there's a final decision.

Depending on the restrictions, methyl iodide could be unusable, she said.

For information, visit www.cdpr.ca.gov and click on the Decisions Pending link.